First win eludes Redhawks men in OT

A near-miraculous comeback gave the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team a fighting chance at its first win of the season Monday.

But a questionable foul call late in overtime helped seal the Redhawks' fate.

Grambling State University junior guard Raschard Boatner hit 1 of 2 free throws with 2.4 seconds left to give the Tigers a 77-76 victory for their first triumph this season.

An announced crowd of 1,822 at the Show Me Center for Southeast's home opener saw the Redhawks fall to 0-4. The Tigers are 1-4.

"I'm disappointed," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said.

The squads appeared headed for a second overtime when Boatner was stripped by senior guard Anthony Allison on a drive into the lane. Southeast recovered the ball.

It appeared that at least a second had elapsed before Allison was whistled for a reaching foul with GSU in the double-bonus.

"I stripped it first. He went up after that is when they called it. Good acting skills," Allison said. "I shouldn't have reached in the first place."

Coaches and players are prohibited by conference rules from criticizing officiating, so Nutt was guarded in his comments.

"Regardless of whoever it was called upon, whether it was our team or their team, that usually doesn't happen," Nutt said of that type of foul being called so late in a close game. "Like I told our team, it should have never come down to that."

That's because Nutt felt a better effort -- mainly defensively -- over the first 30 minutes would have kept the Redhawks from having to fight such an uphill battle.

Southeast led briefly early but GSU pulled away from a 12-12 tie with a 9-0 run.

The Redhawks trailed 37-29 at halftime, by 13 points midway through the final period and by 12 points with less than four minutes left.

"The last 10 minutes we started playing," Allison said. "I guess everybody got it in their mind we had to turn it up."

Southeast finished on a 20-8 run over the last 3 minutes, 30 seconds of regulation, rallying even though the Tigers made 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:20.

Allison, junior college transfer guard Nick Niemczyk and redshirt freshman point guard Lucas Nutt all turned in several key plays down the stretch of regulation.

Nutt's three-point play with 51 seconds left made it 63-59, Allison's 3-pointer with 37 seconds left made it 64-62 and Niemczyk's 15-foot baseline jumper sliced the deficit to 65-64 with 25 seconds remaining.

GSU hit two free throws at the 24-second mark for a 67-64 advantage.

Junior forward Leon Powell rebounded a missed 3-pointer by sophomore guard Marland Smith. Powell put in a follow shot with 8.8 seconds left and was fouled. His free throw forged a 67-67 tie.

The Tigers never got off a good shot so the clubs headed to overtime.

"We could have folded the tent. This team has some fight in us," coach Nutt said. "We just have to have a sense of urgency defensively."

There were six lead changes and no advantage larger than three points during the five-minute extra session.

Allison had a chance to put Southeast ahead with 32 seconds left but made only 1 of 2 free throws for the game's final tie at 76-76.

Boatner made his first free throw with 2.4 seconds to go and intentionally missed the second. Niemczyk's half-court heave at the buzzer was way off the mark.

"It hurts," Allison said. "Everybody wanted to win. We fought back hard."

Powell, Southeast's leading scorer and rebounder, paced the Redhawks with 18 points but sat out much of the second half with foul trouble before fouling out in the opening minute of overtime.

Powell was his own worst critic for what he thought was a poor defensive night against junior forward Justin Patton.

Patton, averaging just more than 11 points, had 28 points and 12 rebounds.

"The first half, our defense was terrible. I put the blame on me. I was checking Justin Patton and he had 14 [points] and 10 [rebounds] at the half," Powell said. "My defense sucked. I have to get back to that defensive mentality. I didn't rebound worth nothing either."

Powell, averaging nearly 10 rebounds in the first three games, had only four against the Tigers.

Of the foul problems that limited him to playing only 28 of a possible 45 minutes, Powell said: "It's just me getting dumb fouls."

Allison had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while adding six assists against no turnovers in 38 minutes.

Niemczyk scored 15 points while 7-foot junior college transfer center Zach House had by far the best performance of his young Southeast career with nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Nutt thought junior college transfer point guard Marcus Brister also had his best game so far with six points and three assists against one turnover.

Also drawing praise were Lucas Nutt (seven points, three assists, one turnover) and junior college transfer forward Waylon Jones (four rebounds, three blocks).

But all that was not enough to get the Redhawks over the hump.

Southeast returns to action Wednesday at Arkansas, marking the Redhawks' fourth road contest in their first five games.

Powell honored

Powell, who missed all of last season with a knee injury after transferring from junior college, was named the Ohio Valley Conference newcomer of the week Monday.

Powell averaged 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 68 percent (17 of 25) in road losses last week to Florida Gulf Coast and Missouri-Kansas City. His 26 points against Florida Gulf Coast are the most by an OVC player so far this season.